Xsan Administration Courses

Submitted by brandon on Wed, 03/30/2005 - 5:47am

Not too long ago, I worked the night shift at my shop, for no reason other than my own choice. I loved sneaking in when no one else was around, dimming the lights, boosting the volume, and figuring out repairs and solutions on my own. And while the spooky late-night life had a certain lone gunman appeal, during the occasional wrestling match with a particularly stubborn problem, I wondered if a bit of formal training would be precisely the shortcut I needed to put a targeted symptom behind me. I suppose at heart I'm a closeted Good Student.

That in mind, it looks like Apple Customer Training has a few relevant shortcuts scheduled -- Xsan Administration courses in the months formerly known as Daisy Duck's nieces: April, May and June. A click of the "Show Schedule" button will tell you that the two April sessions are booked, while May and June are fair game.

For what it's worth, I attended a related-yet-different "Xsan for Pro Video Technician" course with Nick and Ron back in December in Boston, and found it invaluable. My favorite segment was an exercise where the instructors sent us out of the room, then broke various aspects of the working SANs we had built, then brought us back in to find and troubleshoot the problems. The effectiveness of a team approach really hit home -- each of our specialties carved away little pieces of the puzzle, and afterward, I felt much less intimidated about looking into our customers' problems.

So, click that "Add to Cart" button while you can. Initially, $2250 for a certification may seem high, but you'll likely need this kind of exposure to handle day to day maintenance. It may be a modest investment compared to a consultant's fee.

I’m from a network administration background, not a pro video
background, so I made the most progress in areas like calculating bandwidth
needs for different video workgroups, seeing how to design systems that will
stand up to those varying demands, and learning what practices to
recommend (and recommend against) for those video users. I walked away
with much more realistic expectations of any given SAN’s performance. It’s a
real confidence-builder.

Of course, a little knowledge in turn begs more questions, so I left
wanting to learn more about affinity organization strategies (how to best
apply this newfound control) and more about SAN backup strategies. Those
areas were hardly addressed at all.

I’d recommend getting in touch with the course’s instructor, Matt Geller
at www.thetechtherapist.com for specifics. I can tell you that the three days of exercises are thankfully
all hands-on. The dozen people in the room were split into groups of three,
each with their own complete sets of equipment to build (and break), from
scratch to fully operable. It’s paced well, covering lots of ground, but with
plenty of interactivity and lots of time for questions. So to a degree, you can
tailor the info you take away.

The test at the end that (hopefully) nets you your Xsan for Pro Video
Technician certification is your standard garden-variety www.prometric.com">Prometric online multiple choice exam. That
exam is no walk in the park, so definitely do not underestimate it. Most but
not all in our group passed.

Just wanted to add that the Apple Training Xsan classes and the Pro Video Xsan classes are offered by two separate entities of Apple. If folks are interested specifically in the Xsan for Pro Video class, they can surf over to: